Roller-skate.



No. 880.684. PATENTED MAR. 3, 1908.

J. MINER.

ROLLER SKATE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.15, 1907.

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JOHN MINER, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

ROLLER-SKATE Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 3, 1908.

Application filed April 15 1907. Serial No. 368.202.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J GEN MINER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne, State of Michigan, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Roller-Skatesyand I dodeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in roller skates,and consists in the construction and arrangement of parts hereinaftermore fully set forth and pointed out particularly in the claims.

The objects of the invention are to provide a skate of the characterdescribed of light and strong construction; to provide a heel clampingbar which passes over the rear truck plate and which lies under andmoves longitudi nally of the foot plate; to provide a connection betweenthe front and rear clamping members through the medium of which they maybe actuated, and which connecting means serves as a truss to support andstrengthen the foot plate; to provide equalized forward clamping memberswhich engage the sole of the shoe and which move nearly transversely ofthe foot plate when actuated and cross each other thereunder; to providea pivoted yoke the ends. of which connect freely with the ends of theforward clamping members to afford to said clamping members facility ofmovement, and to provide a wheel or roller of strong and lightconstruction.

The above objects are attained by the association and arrangement ofparts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is anelevation of a skate embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is an inverted lan,the wheels or rollers being omitted and the axles carrying said wheelsor rollers being broken away. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the reartruck and of the rear end of the foot late. Fig. 4 is a transversesection as on ine 4-4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view in sectionshowing the pivotal connection between the rear end of the yoke and oneof the studs carrying the adjusting screw,

and the slidable connection between said yoke and'the foot plate.

Referring to the characters of reference, 1 designates the foot platewhich is made comparatively thin for the purpose of rendering the skateli ht. Secured to the under face of the foot time at the rear is therear truck plate 2. Projecting downwardly at an angle from the reartruck plate are the brackets 3 and 4:, the forward bracket 3 being thelon er and said brackets standing in parallel re ation. Su ported at itsends in said brackets is the inc med journal pin 5 which passes throughthe pivotal or hinged member 6 of the truck frame, whereby said memberbecomes hinged to and between the brackets 3 and 4 of that part of thetruck frame which is rigidly secured to the foot plate.

Formed integral with the lower end of the hinged member 6 is atransverse sleeve 7 through which passes the rear axle 8 on the 'ends ofwhich the rear wheels 9 are journaled. This arrangement allows the footplate to rock upon the inclined journal pin 5 and causes the rear axleto assume an oblique position with respect to the transverse axis ofsaid plate.

To limit the rocking movement of said plate upon said inclined journalpin, the hinged member 6 is provided withthe laterally extending lugs 10which are adapted to engage the under face of the truck plate 2 as thefoot plate rocks from side to side.

Projecting from the bracket member 3 of the rear truck is a slotted arm11 which receives the upper end of the flat steel spring 12, said springbeing secured therein by the set screw 13, or other suitable means. Thelower end of said spring is freely held between the sides of a slottedlug 14 which projects from the sleeve 7 through which passes the axle ofthe rear truck. The spring 12 permits the foot plate to rock from sideto side upon the application of a sidewise pressure thereto, but issufficiently strong to return said parts to their normal position uponthe removal of the pressure, as will be well understood.

The forward truck frame has an upper part or truck plate 15 suitablysecured to the foot plate 1 and which carries the downwardly extendinginclined bracket members 16 and 17 which stand approximately paralleland of which the bracket 17 is the verse movement of the clamping armswhen longer. Mounted at its ends in said brackets is the inclinedjournal pin 18 which asses through the pivotal or hinged member 19 ofthe lower part of the truck frame, serving to effect a hinge connectionbetween the lower part of the truck frame and the upper part of saidframe which is rigidly secured to the foot plate upon said inclined pin,the axis of which stands at an obtuse angle with respect to that of thepin 5 of the rear truck frame. Formed integral with the member 19 at thelower end thereof is a transverse sleeve 20 through which passes theforward axle 21, on the projecting ends of which the forward wheels 22are suitably journaled.

Projecting from the bracket 17 of the forward foot plate is a slottedarm 23 in the slot of which is confined the upper end of a flat spring24 by means of a set screw 25. The lower end of said s ring is confinedbetween the sides of the s otted lug 26 formed integral with the sleeve20, the tension of said spring being suflicient to return the parts totheir normal position upon a removal of any pressure which may have beenapplied to the foot plate to cause it to rock upon the journal pin 18.It will now be ap parent that, because of the incline of the journalpins 5 and 18, the rocking of the foot plate from side to side willcause the axles of the wheels to swing on a vertical axis and the skateto describe a circle in either direction according to the rocking ofsaid plate, as will be well understood in the art. To

limit the rocking movement of the forward truck member secured to thefoot plate upon the inclined journal pin 18, the hinged member 19 isprovided with the transverse lugs 27 which are engaged by the under faceof the truck plate 15 as said plate is rocked in a manner as describedwith respect to the rear truck frame.

The forward clamping members employed to engage the sole of the shoe tosecure the skate to the foot of the wearer, consists of the curved,longitudinally reciprocatory arms 28 and 29 respectively carrying attheir outer ends the jaw members 30 curved to embrace the sole of theshoe. Said arms slide over the truck plate 15 and cross each otherthereover, the inner end of each of said arms extending to the o ositeside of the foot plate from that at w ilch its jaw member projects,therebyaffording more nearly a transactuated with respect to the footplate.

Mounted to slide upon the under face of the foot plate is a yoke 31having diverging ends. Said yoke is pivotally connected with a dependingstud 32 by means of the screw 33 which passes through said yoke intosaid stud and whose head is countersunk in said yoke. 'To direct theyoke'in its sliding movement, it is provided with a pin 34, see

Fig. 5, which extends into a longitudinal slot 35 formed in the footplate. The inner ends of the clamping arms 28 and 29 are pivotallyconnected at 36 with the forward ends of the yoke 31, whereby as said:yoke is reciprocated longitudinally of the foot plate, said clampingarms are caused to 'slide transversely thereof to extend or retract thejaw members carried on their outer ends.

Threaded in the depending end of the stud 32 is an adjusting screw 37having aknurled wheel 38 thereon for the purpose of rotating it. Therear end of said screw is swiveled in the depending end of a post orstud 39 which is in turn pivotally mounted on the end of the clampactuating and locking lever 40 which is fulcrumed at 41 to the forwardend of the rear clamping bar 42. The clamping bar 42 is adapted to slidelongitudinally on the under face of the foot plate and passes over therear truck plate 2, as clearly shown in Fig. 3, being confined by saidplate and guided thereby in its movement. Upon the extreme rear end ofthe clamping bar 42 which projects beyond the heel-of the foot plate,are the diverging jaw members 43 which are adapted in conjunction withthe jaw member 44 mounted on the foot plate to clamp the heel of theshoe, as will be Well understood.

By swinging the lever 40 upon its point of fulcrum 41 the stud 39mounted thereon will be caused to describe the arc of a circle and carrythe screw 37 forwardly or backwardly as the case may be, thereby slidingthe yoke 31, the pivotal mounting of the studs 32 and 39 in which theadjusting screw 37 is supported, permitting said studs to turn upon saidpivots to permit of said movement. As the yoke is reciprocated, the arms28 and 29 are caused to slide transversely of the foot plate to extendor retract their clamping ends as the case may be.

It will be noted that when the yoke 31 shall have reached the limit ofits movement in either direction, the pivotal point or fulcrum of thelever 40 shifts from the fulcrum 41 to the pivotal point of connectionbetween said lever and the rear stud 39, thereby causing the clampingbar 42 to slide longitudinally to actuate the rear clamping jaws 43.

It will be noted that the forward clamping arms 28 and 29 are free to beshifted transversely of the foot plate so that in adjusting the skate tothe sole of the shoe, it may be placed directly in the center of thesole, or nearer one edge than the other, according to the desire of thewearer, said parts being securely held against movement when ten sion isapplied thereto in the operation of clamping the skate to the shoe. Whenthe lever 40 is swung rearwardly, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2,the jaw members at the front and rear are extended and when said leveris thrown forwardly, as shown by solid lines in said last-mentionedfigure, said jaw members are retracted to engagethe sole and heel of theshoe of the wearer. It will further be noted that by crossing the curvedarms 28 and 29 which carry the forward jaws 30 and actuating them fromopposite sides of the foot plate, a more direct transverse draw uponsaid arms is accomplished, thereby increasing the clamping power of theaws carried thereby. It will further be noted that because of the directlongitudinal movement of the bar 42 carrying the rear jaws 43 themaximum power may be exerted upon said rear jaws to clamp the heelbetween them and the fixed jaw 44.

It will further be noted that when the parts are in the position shownby solid lines in Fig. 2, the fulcrum point 41 of the lever 40 stands atone side of the longitudinal axis of the connecting screw 37 whichrepresents the line of draft between the movable clamping members of theskate, whereby the clamping parts become locked in the clampingposition, thereby preventing the accidental release or disengagement ofsaid parts.

It will be further noted that the connecting means between the forwardclamping arms and the rear longitudinally movable bar 42, which consistof the yoke 31, the studs 32 and 39 and the connecting screw 37, serve,when tension is placed upon said parts, as a kind of truss to strengthenthe foot plate at the middle and prevent the depression thereof,enabling a comparatively light plate to be used without danger ofrendering said late too weak to carry the strain which is p aced thereonwhen the skate is in use.

In the use of skates of this character, the rollers or wheels 9 aresubjected to the greatest wear and strain upon the outer edges thereof.To provide wheels of a character to withstand such strain in use, I haveplaced the web 45 at one side of the center of the wheels, as shown inFig. 4, and have made a short thick flange 46 on the outside of said webto strengthen and protect the outer edge of the rim. In this manner I amable to produce a very strong wheel which is comparatively light.

Having thus fully set forth my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a skate, the combination with the foot plate, .of the forwardmovable clamping arms slidable upon the under face of said plate andcrossingfrom side to side, j aw members upon the outer ends of saidarms, a yoke having forwardly extending diverging end portions which arepivotally connected to the inner ends of said arms respectively, saidyoke being pivotally mounted at the juncture of said diver ing endportions and slidable longitudinaly of the foot plate, and means foractuating said yoke.

2. In' a skate the combination with the foot plate, of the forward truckplate secured to the under face thereof, and clamping arms slidablebetween the foot plate and said truck plate transversely of the footplate and crossing each other to the opposite sides of said plate, arear truck plate, a single clamping bar slidable longitudinally of thefoot plate between the rear truck plate and said foot plate, saidclamping bar having jaw members at its rear end, a yoke slidable uponthe foot plate having forwardly extending diverging end portions whichare pivoted to the inner ends of the forward clamping arms respectively,said yoke being pivotally mounted at the juncture of said-diverging endportions, means for adjustably connecting said yoke with the forward endof the rear clamping bar, and a lever pivotally connected to said barand to said connecting means for actuating said parts.

3. In a skate, the combination of the foot plate, the forward clampingarms slidably mounted upon the under face of said plate, I

said arms having jaw members at their outer ends and crossing said platetransversely, a yoke movable longitudinally of the foot plate havingdiverging forwardly extending end portions which are pivoted to theinner ends of said clamping arms respectively, said yoke being pivotedto swing transversely of the foot plate to allow of a transversemovement of said arms in the same direction, and a pivoted lever forsliding said yoke.

4. In a skate, the combination of the foot plate, the forward clampingarms slidably mounted on the under face of said plate and crossing saidplate transversely, a slidable yoke having forwardly extending divergingarms which are pivoted to the inner ends of said clampin armsrespectively, said yoke being pivotally mounted to permit its divergingarms to swing transversely of the foot plate, a rear clamping barmounted to slide upon the under face of the foot plate and having a jawmember at its rear end, a lever pivoted to the forward end of said rearclamping bar, a stud pivoted to said lever, a stud pivoted to said yoke,and a screw threaded in one of said studs and swiveled in the other.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification in the presence of twowitnesses.

JOHN MINER.

Witnesses:

O. B. BAENZIGER, I. T. HOWLETT.

